Plaque marks Vincenzo Bonello's contribution to arts

For a judge at the European Court of Human Rights to enter the Inquisitor's Palace creates both a feeling of oppression and a spirit of liberation.

This is how Giovanni Bonello described his visit to the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa yesterday to unveil a plaque marking his father's contribution to fine arts and culture in Malta.

His father Vincenzo (1891-1969) was curator of the Museum of Fine Arts and between 1926 and 1937 embarked on a plan to rehabilitate the Inquisitor's Palace, mainly by removing the structural intrusions made by the British authorities that marred the original architectural splendour of this landmark.

The plaque was put up by Heritage Malta.

Judge Bonello, who was accompanied by his sister Anna, said the inquisitor oppressed all those freedoms that the European Court stood for, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The judicial process by the inquisitor was anything but free and public - which is exactly the opposite of what the European Court promotes.

Judge Bonello felt that his father was the last victim of the 'inquisition' when he was processed secretly and interred in another country during the second world war.

"My father was a pioneer in promoting art and at best he got indifference and at worst enmity."

The spirit of liberation came, he said, because the Inquisitor's Palace was being opened up to culture, offering a freeing of the spirit.

Mario Tabone, chairman of Heritage Malta, said the organisation planned to remember Mr Bonello on a grander scale at a later date.

Arts Minister Jesmond Mugliett recalled that it was Mr Bonello who basically bought the collection at the Fine Arts Museum.

Mr Bonello was the quintessential civil servant whose quality of work practice could be seen from his detailed records of acquisitions and conservation interventions, the minister added.